Work handling device



Nov. 25, 1940- M. H. FREEMAN WORK HANDLING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4. 1939INVENTOR.

Mmom H. FREEMAN,- H

ATTORNEIY. V

' Patented'Nov. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES 2,222,941 WORK HANDLING nnvrcnMalcolm B. Freeman, Maryville, Tenn.,assignor to Aluminum Company ofAmerica, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application mm4, 1999, Serial No. 297,906

10 Claims.

This invention relates to improved work handling devices. Moreparticularly it relates to work handling tongs adapted to grasp andcarry articles such as coils, slabs, ingots, building materials,packages, and the like, especially in a form adapted for use witha.-crane,

hoist, or other type of lift.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved workhandlingdevice adapted to be 0 associated with a lift and ,adapteii to clamp,raise, convey, and, deposit articles'of varying size and shape,particularly articles which are relatively heavy. A further object is toprovide such a work handling device as may be quickly and convenientlymoved to and from working posi tion and which may be conveniently causedto engage and disengage the work. j

Another object of the invention is the provision in a work handlingdevice of means whereby an article maybe engaged with its principal axislying in a given plane, for instance a horizontal plane, and thereafterlifted, conveyed if desirable, and deposited in .the same or differentlocation with its principal axis in a plane difierent from its firstgiven plane, for instance in a vertical plane. i Other objects, whichmay be obtained with advantage eithersingly or in combination, are toprovide in a work handling device means for 0 pivotally supporting thework engaging elements at or above the center of gravity thereof,'m'eansfor limitingthe angle of relative rotation be:-

tween the work engaging portion of the device and the lifting handle orbail therefor, means 05 carried by the device for actuating the grippingjaws, and meahsfor conveniently adiusting the working ppsition of thejaws relative to each other to accommodate work pieces'of varying sizeand shape. Further objects and advantages The invention is particularlydesigned, in the preferred embodiment here shown and described, forassociation with metal coiling apparatus and for use in intermediatecoiled strip handling operations. In this form it may be referred to asa coil handling tongs and may be used to pick up a coil of metalstripresting on a coiler, conveyor, or the like, to convey the coil to adesired destination, and to deposit the coil' on at truck, 50 conveyor,or other apparatus. For lifting a coil from a coiler to a truck, it isoften desirable to turn the coil through an angle of 90,from a positionon the coiler in which its principal axis is horizontal to a positionon-the truck in which 55 its principal axis is vertical. Thedesirability 6Q stacked and have'less tendency ta'be injured of sohandling and arranging the coil will occur for many reasons in stripprocessing operations, one reason often being ,that *it, is desirable.to transport coils on end since they are more easily will appear 'asthe description proceeds.

of turning a coil through 90 it has. heretofore been necessary to employspecial equipment or to maneuver the coil manually while it is held by acrane. i

The present invention is here described in its preferred embodiment as acoil handling tongs adapted to automatically perform the 90 turnover,-function, and comprises briefly a work handling tongs pivotallysupported from a bail adapted to be carried by a crane or other type Iof lift, the tongs including oppositely disposed jaws normally restingwith their work engaging axis in a given plane and adapted when liftinga coil ,to automatically rotate with the coil into the desired plane.mounted on a main frame to which the bail is pivoted and are adapted tobe opened or closed The clamping jaws are on one radial layer of coilthicknesses, and the main frame .carries means for opening and closingthe jaws, means for adjusting the relative open position of the jawsindependently of the opening and closing means-and suitable stops forlimiting the angle of rotation between'the frame and the bail. It hasbeen found that by pivotally connecting the bail to the main frame at orabove its center of gravity, especially in connection with suitablestops on the mainframe for limiting the positions of the bail with.re-

spect thereto, the tongs maybe conveniently moved about with theirunloaded jaws open and. in balance. In this condition they areconveniently arranged for engagement with a coil, and

yet they may be clamped to a coil and lifted, the coil unbalancing theapparatus and automatically assuming a position approximating 90 fromits former position.

With reference now to the drawing, the preferred, embodiment of theinvention may be more particularly described.

In the drawing; I I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a coil handling tongs; I

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, partlyin section,

of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Tig. 3 is an enlarged section through the cross arm and rotary gland,corresponding to a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through one hinge member and the packingjoint associated therewith, corresponding to a portion of the apparatusshown in Fig. 2.

The apparatus comprises a bail or handle,

identified generally by the reference numeral Ill, and'having a tonguedlifting portion through which an eyelet has been formed for engage: mentby a crane hook or clevis pin, the bail-sup: porting a main frame i2through its component cross arm or hearing carrier l3, legs l4 and i5,

hinge pins 16, and hinge members IS, the hinge tegrally formed workengaging jaw 2|, a frame portion to which the reference numeral I2 isdirected, and an integrally formed cylinder 22. A suitably boltedcylinder head 23 covers the outer end of cylinder 22, and a pistonidentified generally by the reference numeral 25 is movable within thecylinder 22, being secured to a piston rod 26 by a suitable nut 21andcomprising a disc 26, a cup leather 29, and a cup leather clampingring 36 secured to the disc 28 by suitable cap screws.

The piston rod 26 is axially located at the piston end by the slidingengagement of the piston 25 within the cylinder 22 and at its oppositeend by the sliding engagement of a bearing portion 32 within a bushing33 secured within the main frame l2 adjacent the fixed jaw 2|. Thepiston 25 and piston rod 26 may be considered as a crosshead slidable inways composed of the cylinder 22 and bearing portion 32, and othercrosshead and way construction could be employed.

The piston rod 26 is externally threaded over.

a major portion of its length between the piston 25 and the bearingportion 32, and carries thereon an internally threaded movable jaw 35reciprocable toward and away from the fixed jaw 2| through reciprocationof piston rod 26. The threaded portion of piston rod 26 may also havesliding movement in bushing 33. The movable.

jaw 35 may be positioned axially along the threaded portion of pistonrod 26 by rotation of the piston rod, conveniently effectuated throughIt will appear then that rotation of the piston rod 26 will adjust theposition of movable jaw 35, but the operating motion of jaw 35 ispreferably obtained by means of the cylinder 22 and a return spring 38of the compression type located within the hollow bore of piston rod 26between a seat 39 therein and a retainer plate 40 secured as by capscrews to the main frame l2.

The jaw members 2| and 35' preferably extend at right angles to the axisof the piston rod 26, outwardly away from the main frame |2, where theymay more conveniently be caused to engage a coil or other'article. Foruse in picking up coiled strip material the jaw members'2l and. 35 areformed with work engaging surfaces suitably concave and convex,respectively, and carry suitable composition shoes 43. and 44,respectively, likewise formed to accommodate the curvedinner and outersurfaces of coils of variable radial thickness. Thus, in the form of theinvention here described, the jaw members 2| and 35 are adapted toengage a horizontal coilcylinder 22 it has been found desirable'toemploy a conduit for the pressure medium through a pipe line 45connecting to a stuffing box 46 (Fig. 3) at the top of the bail l6, andpassing from the 'stufiing box through a rotary gland,

identified generally by the reference numeral 41,

into a pipe line 48 connecting to the leg I and passing therethroughinto a pacln'ng joint, identified generally by the reference numeral 50,and from the packing joint 56 through a pipe line 5| to the cylinderhead 23.

Reference is now particularly made to Fig. 3 wherein the connection ofthe pipe line 45'to the stuffing box 46 is shown, as is the constructionof the rotary gland 41. The rotary gland comprises the stuffing box 46rotatably secured to the bearing carrier l3 through the medium of a pairof ball bearings 53, the inner races of which.

are retained between a flange on the lower extremity of stuffing box 46and a retainer ring 54 threadedly secured to the stufling box 46. Thusit will appear that the bail l0 and apparatus generally are rotatableabout a vertical axis with reference to the stuffing box 46 by means ofthis rotary gland 41.

The rotatable pressure conduit connection through the rotary gland 41comprises a hollow packing stem 55 rotatably supported within stuffingbox 46 through the medium of packing rings 56 and packing gland sleeve51 adjustably secured to the stufiing box 46 by suitable can screws. Theaforementioned-pipe line 48 connects through a suitable coupling fromthe hollow packingstem 55 to the leg |5 which is also hollow for thepassage of a pressure medium.

The leg |5 includes, approximately midway in its length, a three-wayspring loaded pressure valve 60, having a suitable exhaust port 62,which valve is adapted to control the flow of a pressure medium to andfrom cylinder 22 and to be operated by a removable square head wrench6|. The hollow leg l5 connects to a hinge stuffing box 64 carrying thehinge pin 6. The stuffing box 64 provides a rotatable gland for thepassage of the pressure medium from the bail ID to the cylinder 22 andis comprised of a hollow packing stem 65, a packing ring 66, a packingmember 61, and a packing gland nut 68 adapted to rotatably retain thepacking stem 65 within the stufling box 64., Suitable radial ports andan internal conduit are provided within the packing stem 65 forconnecting to a passage within stuffing box 64 connecting to the leg |5(Fig. 4). The aforementioned pipe line 5| is connected to the packingstem 65 at one end, and through a suitable coupling'is connected tothecylinder head 23, the cylinder head 23 having a suitable porttherethrough for the pa sage of the pressure medium into the chambebehind the piston 25.

From the above description it will appear that the work gripping jaws 2|and 35 are supported by a main frame I 2 which is pivotally supported,through the medium of the aforementioned hinge pins-l6, to the bail orhandle III for rotation about a horizontal axis. It is to be also notedthat the bail I0 is pivoted for rotation about a vertical axis to atongued lifting portion of stuffing box 46. Thus the-apparatus may bereadily the vertical axis and the degree of freedom of motion andbalancing of the parts around the horizontal axis, other means couldbeemployed for supplying the pressure medium to cylinder has been providedon the upper portion of the cylinder 22 and also adapted to abut againstthe leg I. These lugs 10 and stop" are desirable,

along with the location of the hinge pins I6 approximately at or abovethe center of gravity of the apparatus carried by the main frame I2, sothat a balanced condition of the tongs will obtain when in either of itsextreme positions, suchas in to an apparatus adapted to lift coils fromthe Fig. 1; but arrangements could be'employed eliminating lugs and stopI l, or eliminating the approximate center of gravity swinging of mainframe l2.

Viewing the tongs as shown in-Fig. 1, it is contemplated that acoilhaving its axis running from left to right through the area near thecylinder 22 could be engaged at its upper outer surface by the jawmember 2| and at its upper inner surface by the jaw member 35. With thetongs so engaged lifting of the bail l0 would so unbalance the apparatusas to cause the main frame I 2 and the lifted coil to turn as'viewed inFig. 1 in a counterclockwise direction until balanced or until stopped,at an angle approximating 90", by the stop H. The tongs and its loadcould then be transported to a desired position and the coil depositedon end.

- The invention has been described with respect horizontal position anddeposit them in the vertical position. It will be apparent that amoderate rearrangement of the embodiment of the invention here showncould be employed for performing the reverse operation or for performinglike operations on the same or other articles. It is intended that theappended claims be read with the understanding that variousmodifications and changes in the relationship of the parts of theinvention maybe made without departing from their nature or scope.

What is claimed is:

1. A work handling device comprising-a bail, a main frame pivotallyswung from said bail about a single axis, work gripping jaws supportedin said main frame, and power means supported by said main frame forpositively actuating at leastone of said jaws to grip the work.

2. A work handling devic comprising a ball, a main frame pivotally swungfrom said bail about a single axis, work gripping jaws supported in saidmainframe, power 'means supported by said main frame for positivelyactuating at least one of said jaws to grip the work, and stop means onsaid main frame for limiting extreme positions of relative rotarymovement between said ball and said main frame.

3. A work handling device comprising a ball, a main frame pivotallyswung above its center of gravity from said bail, work gripping j'awssupported in said main frame, pressure means supported by said mainframe for actuating at least one of said jaws to grip the work, andexternal means for directing pressure to said pressure means throughsaid ball and said main frame.

4. A work handling device-comprising a bail, a main frame pivotallyswung from said bail about a single axis, work gripping jaws supportedin said main frame, means for adjusting the maximum opening between saidjaws, and separate power means supported by said main frame forpositively actuating at least one of said jaws to grip the work.

'5. A work handling device comprising a bail, a

main frame pivotally swung above its center of gravity from said bail,work gripping jaws supported in said main frame and locatedsubstantially above and to one side of its center. of gravity, said jawsbeing adapted to grip work and positively hold the same dependinglytherefrom, and a pressure cylinder mounted on said main frame foractuating at least one of said jaws to grip the work, whereby said mainframe will be rotatably unbalanced when lifting the work depending fromsaid jaws and will automatically rotate with respect to said bailtoassume a new position of balance at an angle approaching a right anglewith respect to its unloaded position.

6. A work handling device comprising a fixed jaw, an oppositely disposedmovable jaw, means carried by said device for actuating said movablejaw, and a handle for lifting said device pivotally connected theretonear the'center of gravity thereof, whereby said device will be inrotational balance when not carrying work.

. '7. A work handling device comprising a fixed jaw, an oppositelydisposed movable jaw, reciprocable power means carried by said deviceadapted to positively actuate said movable jaw relative to said fixedjaw for gripping the work, separate means for varying the maximumopening betweensaid jaws, and a handle for lifting said device pivotallyconnected thereto about a single axis.

8. A work handling device comprising a main frame, bearing portionswithin said main frame, a fixed jaw carried by said main frame, areciprocable support slidable in said bearing portions, a movable jawcarried by said reciprocable support, and means on said main frame foractuating said support for gripping the work.

9. A work handling device comprising a frame,

a fixed jaw attached to said frame, ways disposedthe amplitude ofreciprocation of the crosshead. 10. A device for use inassociatio'n'with a lift and adapted to handle coils of materialcomprising a frame, a pair of oppositely disposed jaws, a reciprocablepiston longitudinally disposed within said frameand adapted to open andclose said jaws, adjusting means associated with at least one of saidJaws adapted to vary the maximum jaw opening, and a lifting bailpivotally connected to said frame substantially at thece'nter of gravitythereof, whereby upon lifting a coil with its axis lying in.a givenposition the coiland frame will automatically rotate with respect to thebail for depositing the coil with its axis at a substantial angle to itsformer given position.

MALCOLM H. FREEMAN

